"The time for your games is over. It's time for you to grow up and accept the full consequences of your actions, all of them."

―Death to Dean

Death is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. He is one of the most powerful entities in the cosmos as the embodiment of the end of life. Death was bound to do the bidding of Lucifer during the Apocalypse until the spell was broken thanks in part to the Winchesters banishing him back to the Cage. He finds amusement in the struggles of Dean and Sam Winchester to overcome their deaths though finally became insulted when Dean took Sam directly from his personal grip thanks to his bargain with Samael. He has since backed and aided the Heavenly Saint Daniel Leonard with his bid to free Michael and restore the Natural Order.

Background

Before the Apocalypse, the last time that Death had been on the Earth was during the Deluge which he helped to unleash upon a request from God. He and his reapers collected the souls of all the people unfortunate enough to meet its path that weren't protected in Noah's Ark. He then went into exile where he observed the passage of life and death for all humans on the planet. However, during the Apocalypse, he was summoned to Earth by Lucifer who had placed a spell on him to have him bound to do his bidding. Death reached out and awaited for Dean Winchester to help in sealing Lucifer back into the Cage as to help break his bond. When Lucifer was banished again, Death was able to break the spell and was free again.

However, after the Apocalypse, Death learned of both Crowley and Castiel's bid to acquire the souls of Purgatory. Knowing that it could ultimately lead to the Leviathan being released and annihilating the planet he reached out to Dean again. He first waited for Dean to try to summon him as he knew that Sam's soul was trapped in Lucifer's Cage and counted on Dean to reach out to him. He made Dean wear his ring and take his position to instill in Dean the importance of the Natural Order as well as teach him the importance of the human soul before he warned him, vaguely, about Crowley and Castiel's plan. He then went and returned Sam's soul to him but also put a wall around Sam's mind to erase the memories of the Cage from him.

When Castiel had opened Purgatory and gotten the souls to become 'God', Dean, Sam and Bobby Singer bound Death to try and stop him. Death was not happy with Dean's action and assumed that he had been bound to repair the broken wall in Sam's mind. However, they instead asked him to kill Castiel. Castiel appeared to stop them and exchanged heated words with the supercharged angel. He warned them that Castiel had swallowed the souls in Purgatory as well as the Leviathan. Castiel arrogantly stated that he had them under control. Death was then commanded by Dean to kill Castiel but the angel unbound Death and broke the spell. Death then warned Dean to fix what had been done and return the souls and Leviathan back to Purgatory. Since the portal could only be opened during an Eclipse Death stated he would make another one and gave them a deadline. He then warned Dean that if he tried to unbind him again then he would kill them all immediately.

Season 9

Death had come to visit Sam whose life was fading away due to him taking on the trials to seal the Gates of Hell. Sam was surprised that Death came personally though he was hesitant to stay with him. Death explained that Sam's life would never truly return and if he did reject him then Sam would go through the rest of his life in a catonic state. Sam took in the news and asked Death that if he did choose to go with him then could he make it so he could never be brought back. Death told him he could. However their conversation was being eavesdropped by Dean thanks to Samael who was trying to bargain with him to allow him to possess Sam in an effort to heal himself due to the effects of the Fall. While hesistant, the conversation seen between Death and Sam made Dean agree. Before Sam could go with Death Samael infiltrated his mind in the guise of his brother Dean. When Samael tricked Sam into giving him his consent to save his life. Death realized who it really was that had taken Sam from his grip and it made him angry.

In response to the outrage he felt, Death approached Daniel Leonard and explained to him how he had become a Heavenly Saint due to the freeing of the Angel Tablet. Thanks to Metatron invoking the Fall, Heaven was mostly sealed to a great deal of his reapers so they couldn't fully reap all the souls meant to go to Heaven. Death informed him that Michael could unseal Heaven and told him that he could free him if he had the Angel Tablet as well as the Holy Grail. Daniel Leonard pointed out that the Winchesters would try and stop him once they learned of it. While Death favored a swift approach to eliminate the problem, Daniel proposed a different way to try and stress to them the seriousness of what they had helped bring about. Death listened to his proposal and agreed.

Death then approached Dean when he was in pursuit of Logan Donovan and told him that he had been 'replaced'. Dean asked why there were spirits meant for Heaven roaming around that didn't want to stay and Death explained about Heaven's sealed portals and he wasn't permitted to undo the angel's magic. Death warned Dean that there was someone new who was trying to restore the Natural Order of life and death and that if he and his brother interferred than it would be the other to suffer the price depending on who tried to stop Daniel. Should Dean kill him then Sam would die and be banished to the Cage forever. Should Sam kill him then Dean would die and be banished to Purgatory forever. And should Castiel kill him then both of them would die and be banished to their respected fates. He also informed Dean that the next time either he or his brother died then they would never be able to be brought back by any angelic or demonic means.